Various composers

Awakenings

Laurence Kilsby & Ella O’Neill

Label: CAvi
Format: CD
Barcode: 0028948660254

Catalog number: AVI 4866025
Releasedate: 07-06-24

- LAURENCE KILSBY, Tenor - Described in The Times as a young singer to watch.
- Laurence Kilsby won first prize in three internationalcompetitions; the Das Lied Competition at the Heidelberger Frühling Festspiele, the Wigmore Hall/Bollinger International Song Competition and the Cesti Competition atthe Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik. He studied at the Royal -
- He was a member of the Académie de l’Opéra National de Paris. His regular collaborations with Raphaël Pichon and Ensemble Pygmalion have seen him debut at the Paris Philharmonie, Opéra Comique, Wiener Konzerthaus and Palau de la Música. With the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, he made debuts at the Salzburger Festspiele, Berlin Philharmonie and the BBC Proms. In the U.S. and Canada, he has given concerts and recitals at Carnegie Hall, the Ravinia Festival and Maison Symphonique, Montréal.

AWAKENINGS

“It is with immense pleasure and pride that I introduce this album in collaboration with my great friend and musical partner, Ella O’Neill. Since our respective studies at the Royal College of Music in London, we have been extremely fortunate to have enjoyed successes at the Das Lied Competition at the Heidelberger Frühling Festspiele and the Wigmore Hall/Bollinger International Song Competition.

We have been planning this programme for a number of years, and it was a privilege to record these songs at the Hans Rosbaud Studio in Baden-Baden. There is an idea that the darkest, most lustful and impulsive versions of ourselves stem from our innocence having been corrupted. This idea forms the basis of this programme through its sub-themes of inexperience, naivety and corruption: sources of fascination to me and the composers whose works feature. We were interested in piecing together a journey from childhood through to adulthood and exploring these romantic, sexual and emotional awakenings.

The programme begins from the perspective of youth and all its bright-eyed optimism. From the impressionable, enamoured boy (depicted in Der Knabe und das Immlein and La coccinelle) to the reckless abandon of a girl seduced (vividly explored in Flickan kom ifrån sin älsklings möte and The Seal Man). These complexities of growing up and the realisation of what it means to love and, conversely, to lust, drive this journey towards its darker themes……...

What I enjoy most about many of these songs are the various perspectives from the different characters portrayed, which are immense fun to interpret and dissect. The pianist plays a role of equal importance in colouring these texts, and in exploring this musical dialogue between voice and piano, the dramatic tension is revealed. (Laurence Kilsby)

Unbewegte laue Luft L: Georg Friedrich Daumer From: 8 Lieder and songs Op. 57 (1871)